Ultrasound in veterinary parasitology: state of the art and future prospectives

This presentation is a summary about the current knowledge on the application of ultrasonography in diagnosis, staging and monitoring of helminthic diseases in domestic animals. only peer reviewed papers written in english language were reviewed and all the papers concerning unicellular parasites, wild animals, non-domestic experimental animals, and ex vivo or in vitro applications of ultrasonography were excluded from the review. a total of 122 papers met the inclusion criteria. among them 47% concerned nematodes, 37% cestodes, and 16% trematodes with the genus Dirofilaria, Echinococcus, and Fasciola the most represented, respectively. helminths can be recognized in ultrasound images by their morphology, size, and location. In some cases, the parasite stages are not directly seen by ultrasound, but the lesions caused by them can be easily visualized. The scientific literature examined shows that ultrasound is a valid diagnostic tool for helminthic disease in domestic animals. The versatility of the method and the constant technological improvement of the equipment are allowing a wide diffusion of this diagnostic imaging technique in the field of veterinary parasitology. ultrasound should be considered an auxiliary method that can be integrated with epidemiological data, clinical findings, and laboratory diagnosis of parasitic diseases in domestic animals.